My Hidden Home

Chapter 2: A New World

I heard muffled voices and felt soft cool wind on my skin, my head was killing me, and my ears rang and my whole body ached, as if I'd done nothing but lift weights and run 24/7 for a week, whilst being beaten in a professional boxing match and being run over by a semi, I tried to move, open my eyes, anything but I couldn't my brain and body weren't connected anymore, I heard muffled voices "He seems to be.... survive." My hearing going in and out, I groaned as it was all I could do. "How did he....... I want him to live... awake... needs.... sleeping.". I felt a warm substance on my face smelling of something sweet, and again fell asleep; I dreamt of many things, going home, seeing my family again, all there, even my brother, they smiled at me, and parted, allowing me into the house, trailing behind; I stopped, they panned out to the sides of me, unaffected, I couldn't move, my face was pale and my eyes wide. I saw my brothers head on a spike, smiling, the rest of his body scattered about the living room and sitting on the blood-covered couch, Randy stood up, in the condition I last saw him, he carried his dismembered arm in one hand, he had no legs, but he sort of floated toward me, but it looked like he was walking; I tried to do something run, scream, breathe but I was paralyzed, my mangled family enclosing me in a circle, tearing at my flesh and clothes.

"AAAAHHH!" I screamed as I bolted up from the bed and immediately regretted it, intense pain greeting my temple, I laid back down and got my bearings; I was in a strange room, it was elegant, the sheets were silky and delicate white curtains flowed with the brush of the wind carvings decorating the oak base and headboard of the bed and several pillars, on the bedside table near my head on my right was a plate of fruit I didn't know and a glass of water. Birds chirped outside, and it looked to be about nine o'clock in the morning, I tried to move from the bed but my whole body screamed in response and I groaned in pain; I looked around the room some more, and it looked like something out of a fairytale book, I looked down at what I was wearing, a nightgown matching the white of the sheets, which was starting to hurt my eyes more than they already did. I heard a slight creak to my left and swiftly turned my head, a bad decision as I was met with the worst headache of my life, but I ignored it, my jaw dropping at the person in front of me, in no way was I still alive, because this couldn't be real.

"Man Erin." the man said, walking over to a chair on my right side, he wore golden silk robes and walked with an air of stern kindness, he looked no older than fifty-five if I were to guess, around six-foot tall and long brown hair that framed his blue eyes and reached his waist, what stood out, however, was his ears, they were pointed. He studied me as I studied him, and after sizing me up he finally spoke again, "Tur- cin heni- nin?" He questioned in a soft voice that was more elegant than the neatest cursive and patiently waited for my answer while I cleared my head enough to respond.

"W-wh-what?" I stuttered out I had a tough time talking through the shock of waking up in a strange place and the pain that fogged my brain. "Where am I?" I saw slight confusion clouding his eyes as he furrowed his eyebrows in a worried expression.

"Ah, so you speak only common tongue, to answer your question..." He trailed off. "You are in the elven kingdom of Loretha, in the forest of Eren Galen west of the kingdom of Sunlit Imlad." I thought for a minute taking in this added information, still confused.

"Am I still in Africa? I don't know the names of those countries." I watched him raise an eyebrow in a sort of disbelieving, confused way which made me more confused.

"What is, this kingdom of Africa? I've never heard of it... and what is a country?" He looked at me with concern. "You must not be from here... otherwise you would've known of the places I spoke of earlier." He paused and looked at the untouched plate on the nightstand, "Are you hungry? Your journey here must have been treacherous if your injuries say anything." Changing the subject, he handed me the plate and I took, with great effort, from my sore body an apple-looking fruit and ate, it was soft like a pair and tasted like a strawberry, it was weird.